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Empoword Explains: US Election Results

Katie Nelmes
Donald Trump at speakers stand

Katie Nelmes

Donald Trump has been declared as president-elect, making him the 47th president of the United States of America.

Despite polls being close prior to the election, Donald Trump was quickly declared president-elect. In January 2025, he will have his inauguration to make him officially the 47th president of the United States.

In the coming days, there will be much political analysis of the demographics voting for Donald Trump and Kamala Harris.

This makes Trump only the second person to become president in two non-consecutive terms. The last time this was achieved was by President Grover Cleveland in the 1892 presidential election.

Trump also gains the record for being the first convicted felon to become president, after bing found guilty of 34 counts of falsifying business records to commit election fraud.

Since his first term (2016-2020), Trump has been subject to various court cases. These include charges to overturn the 2020 election, misuse of classified documents, and at least 26 women accusing him of sexual assault. There are also cases regarding his payments of hush money to Stormy Daniels.

Among the 50 states, there were 7 swing states which would determine the outcome of the race – Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Michigan, Georgia, North Carolina, Arizona, and Nevada. While Arizona and Nevada are currently yet to declare their results, the other five swing states voted for Trump.

While much of the focus has been on the presidential race, there were also elections for the Senate and House of Representatives. The Republican Party held the House and gained control of the Senate.

This gives the Republicans control of the legislative machinery, the presidential office, and the Supreme Court, which has a conservative majority.

Consequentially, this should make it easier for the Trump administration to push through their goals, with minimal pushback.

How have the Republicans responded?

Trump gave a speech to his supporters in Mar-a-Lago after many news outlets declared him as the winner. He was surrounded by his family, key members of his team, and the Vice President elect, JD Vance.

“This is a movement like nobody’s ever seen before”

In his victory speech, Trump stated that this was “the greatest political movement of all time.” He went on to say “We have a country that needs help, and it needs help very badly. We’re going to fix our borders, we’re going to fix everything about our country.”

How have the Democrats responded?

Kamala Harris did not respond on the night of the election.

“You won’t hear from the Vice President tonight”

While she was expected to respond to the results to her supporters, her campaign co-chair, Cedric Richmond, made a short speech instead.

He stated: “We still have votes to count. We still have states that have not been called yet.

“We will continue overnight to try to make sure that every vote is counted, that every voice has spoken. So you won’t hear from the vice president tonight.”

When Harris eventually spoke, her message was one of motivation for her supporters to continue their fight.

While she conceded the election during a phone call with Donald Trump, she took the time to remind supporters the “it is okay to feel sad and disappointed. But please know it’s going to be okay.”

“Don’t ever stop trying to make the world a better place”

“On the campaign, I would often say when we fight, we win. But here’s the thing, here’s the thing, sometimes the fight takes a while. That doesn’t mean we won’t win.  The important thing is don’t ever give up. Don’t ever give up. Don’t ever stop trying to make the world a better place.”

How have world leaders responded?

As is tradition, world leaders rushed to congratulate the new president-elect.

Many leaders took a standard response, including European leaders emphasising the need for a positive relationship with the US. UK Prime Minister, Sir Keir Starmer, was among those congratulating Trump.

The election was a talking point at Prime Minister’s Questions, with the new Conservative Party Leader, Kemi Badenoch, asking whether Starmer would apologise for David Lammy’s previous comments. Lammy, now Foreign Secretary, had previously called Trump a “woman-hating, neo-Nazi-sympathising sociopath.”

Starmer responded by reminding the House of Commons that he and Lammy met with Trump a few weeks ago, and were looking forward to continuing a constructive working relationship with the US.

Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netenyahu, reportedly had a 20 minute phone call congratulating Trump. A statement from Hamas said: “Our position on the new US administration depends on its positions and practical behaviour towards our Palestinian people.”

Russian officials told journalists there were no plans to congratulate him. This is likely due to a strained relationship with Russia and the US due to America’s support for Ukraine. Ukrainian President, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, emphasised the need for “continued strong bipartisan support for Ukraine in the United States.”

Donald Trump will become the 47th President of the USA on 20th January 2025. The inauguration takes place on Martin Luther King Day.

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Featured image courtesy of Gage Skidmore via Flickr. No changes were made to this photo. License available here.

Katie is a final year Politics university student and an aspiring political journalist, currently working as a Twitter Editor for Empoword Journalism!

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